Wichita State wants to use basketball trip to put its athletic abilities to the test

Summer is a time when coaches and players can project their biggest dreams onto the coming season.

At Wichita State, that means pushing athletic ability and size to its best outcome. The Shockers are convinced that their quickness and length are capable of producing special things on offense and defense.

They will unveil those assets, although not in full form, starting Saturday with a four-game exhibition tour in Canada. WSU opens against the University of Quebec at Montreal at noon. The lineups will change and change again, but the overall look of the team should be aggressive.

“We’re a big team that guards (all positions),” junior forward Zach Brown said. “Everybody has a really good motor. We can really run the floor, I think, better than most teams that have been around here.”

WSU’s athletic ability has the players savoring chances to play fast on offense and press on defense. WSU coach Gregg Marshall is equally intrigued by his team’s potential to use presses more often than in the past.

“How much more, I don’t know,” he said. “It’s going to depend on our depth. It’s going to depend on the athletic guys also being intelligent guys.”

The Shockers aren’t at full strength this week. Sophomore Markis McDuffie will play few minutes, if at all, because a slight tear to the meniscus in his right knee. Freshmen C.J. Keyser (foot) and Austin Reaves (shoulder) are sidelined.

That leaves plenty of Shockers to show how this team can translate physical skills into production.

“When we get the ball, we’re going straight down the court quick,” McDuffie said. “We’ve got the perfect team to run and gun and get buckets in transition.”

The work that Brown and McDuffie do this summer will determine much about where Wichita State’s season goes. They offer the potential to hit opponents with a long, athletic duo who can torment offenses in presses.

Brown and McDuffie sometimes don’t stand out during practice.

“You don’t notice either one of them when they’re going head to head,” Marshall said. “They lock each other up. It’s a pretty even battle.”

McDuffie is the team’s leading returning scorer at 7.4 points. Brown averaged 6.7 points. Neither shot the ball particularly well — McDuffie 42.6 percent overall and Brown 30.6 percent from three-point range. Both are capable of better accuracy, especially if they round out their games with more drives to the basket.

“Zach is more aggressive,” McDuffie said. “Now he’s like ‘All right, I’m going to do this.’ ”

McDuffie earned Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year honors last season. His versatility might allow him to play power forward and place him in the lineup with Brown.

“Ball-handling – (McDuffie’s) a lot better,” Brown said. “Shooting – he’s in the gym every day. Markis is an NBA player and the more he grows, the better he’s going to get.”

▪  This week’s games will be played under FIBA rules, most notably a 24-second shot clock.

▪  The Shockers won’t worry about scouting reports this week.

Their opponents range from Canadian power Carleton in Sunday’s game to a team of former collegians, with a roster still being assembled, in Wednesday’s game against the IndiSport All-Stars.

Experienced guards seems to be a constant on the Canadian rosters.

UQAM is led by guards Kewyn Blain, who averaged 17.5 points and earned All-Canadian honors, and Greishe Clerjuste, who averaged 13.8 points last season.

Carleton has won six straight Canadian Interuniversity titles and defeated Baylor and Valparaiso last season in summer exhibition games. Kaza Kajami-Keane, who played two seasons at Illinois State, was a second-team All-Canadian pick at point guard. Shooting guard Connor Wood was the CIS tournament MVP. He made 38.3 percent of his three-pointers and averaged 13.6 points.　

This story was originally published August 5, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Wichita State wants to use basketball trip to put its athletic abilities to the test."